While eating dinner last night a curious thing happened. The boys were calm and subdued. They hardly moved and didn’t speak nary a word. Mad Dog and I were convinced that they had taken ill and monitored their every movement. I meticulously checked and documented their vital signs and nothing seemed amiss. They were just quietly tired.
The irony of the situation did not escape me. The more ‘normal’ and quiet they are, the more concerned we are for the state of their physical health.
Of course by the time they headed off for showers, they were back to full-blown insanity and all was right with the world.
Mad Dog and I took the boys to our amenity center pool. It has this great sprinkler area that the boys love. It is a nice way to stay cool as the boys burn through some energy.
The boys had a blast. They ran, they jumped, they splashed and they tackled. Mad Dog and I encouraged it all (except for the tackling). We were the only family in the sprinkler area all the way up until it was time to leave. As soon as we start packing it up, a mom with a small, defenseless toddler girl makes a beeline to the sprinklers. It was pretty obvious that she had been waiting in the wings for my wild boys to leave.
There are challenges to raising two very active boys who wear glasses. We are becoming so familiar to the optometrist’s for fittings, fixes and adjustments, it’s like the show ‘Cheers’ (everyone knows our name). Instead of ‘Norm!’ they shout out ‘Full Speed and T.Puzzle!!’ when we come through their doors. Full Speed’s glasses are by far the most precarious. Between his soccer games and spontaneous wrestling tendencies, one of his lenses keeps popping out of his frames. From experience, once a lens pops, it ain’t never gonna be the same.
All I can do is count myself lucky that the optometrist is nearby and pray for the invention of glasses that are boy-proof.
Mad Dog and I saw ‘The A-Team’ on a movie date night this week. It was enjoyable. I noticed a CIA character wore body armor to protect himself from being shot. I think I need to translate this armor into something parents can wear when they are forced to bring their children into bed with them.
Mad Dog has been traveling this week and one night even before I headed upstairs for bed, little T.Puzzle kept crying out and fussing. I managed to settle him back down with soothing words and a drink of water, but decided if he did it again, I’d just bring him to bed with me. He was snotty, coughing and miserable and I figured since Mad Dog was gone, why not?
Take that, Mommy!
Naturally, he fussed again and I scooped him up and brought him to my bed. Throughout the night he did unexpected kung fu kicks to my stomach and chest with intermittent karate chops to my head. Keep in mind these were completely unintentional. He was dead asleep during these ‘attacks’. There were times I feared for my safety and was unable to fall back asleep.
That’s why I need to invent pajamas that have some sort of barrier to physical blows. My sewing skills are extraordinary. Okay, they are extraordinarily bad so it’s never gonna happen. All I can do is curl up in a tight ball to protect my internal organs and hope for the best.
Of course, little T.Puzzle slept like a baby and woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed. I woke up feeling (and looking) like an eighty year old man.
Wish me luck for the remainder of Mad Dog’s time away. I obviously am going to need it.
I just enjoyed a lovely dinner on our lanai with my two handsome guys. Granted our conversation was limited to how many times Full Speed saw T.Puzzle at camp (3 times!) and the dryness level of little T.Puzzle’s underpants (a happy report of zero wetness) but it was dinner just the same. I find myself more often than not being the lone parent eating meals with my boys. I do my best to schedule sit-down dinners and even though I may crave slightly more stimulating discussion topics, I’m am so thankful that I have this time with them. It’s hard to imagine but I’m guessing once they are older, their interests will coincide more strongly with Mad Dog’s and they will be off doing something sports-related or watching something sports-related (trust me, I’ve already seen the signs of impending sportsdom in my house).
Then all I will long for is conversation about underpants and time alone with my two handsome guys.
While eating dinner last night a curious thing happened. The boys were calm and subdued. They hardly moved and didn’t speak nary a word. Mad Dog and I were convinced that they had taken ill and monitored their every movement. I meticulously checked and documented their vital signs and nothing seemed amiss. They were just quietly tired.
